


A Shameless Reverse-Harem of Turtles

by PonderRose



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, High School, High School Drama, Humor, Love Triangles, Maid Cafes, Overprotective, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-09 05:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16443980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PonderRose/pseuds/PonderRose
Summary: This is pure wish-fulfillment: you wake up to a new turtle in your bed each morning (minus Donatello as he is in love with April). Thus, you find yourself constantly in the presence of a plethora of single teenage turtles, on top of the human guys already in your life. How will you possibly cope with all these guys around you?





	1. Blue Part 1

Leonardo rolled onto his side as started to wake up. Ugh, what a night; he can’t remember the last time he’d slept that deeply. Feeling the area around him without opening his eyes, he noticed that someone was immediately off. His bed felt…… comfier and cleaner than he remembered. And not one but two pillows rested behind his green head. That’s funny, where did the extra pillow come from? The comforter also felt fluffier and warmer……. Something was off, but what? 

“Hello? Are you awake yet?” Whose voice is that? Leonardo yawned dozily. It wasn’t one of his brothers’; it was feminine. Maybe April? But why would she be in his room so early…… or at all? “Can you hear me?” Leonardo yawned again, finally forcing himself to open his dreary eyes. When he did, he unconsciously let out a blood-curdling scream. “Whoa! Calm down!” I tried to ease him by lifting up my hand, which did nothing. The blue-masked turtle simply continued to panic. 

Leonardo found himself in a stranger’s bed- a pink bed, with pink sheets, pillows, and comforter. The room was a small dorm room, like a room one would stay in at a boarding school. Standing beside the bed was a girl; a woman. Me. From the looks of it, he did not recognize me at all, which made two of us. “Where am I?! Where is this?!” He demanded, speedily looking all around the room in panic-mode. “You’re in my room.” “Your room!? Who are you?!” “Uh, I’m Alcmene. Wait! What am I saying? Who are you?! And why are you in MY room!?” 

“How should I know?!” Leonardo thundered angrily. “How do you not know?! You have no idea how you got here?” “You mean you didn’t kidnap me?” “No!” I gasped in horror. “I woke up two hours ago to find YOU lying with my bed WITH me. You’re the one who came here; I had nothing to do with this obviously!” “Two hours……. Wait!” The turtle frowned, narrowing his glare at me. “If you’ve been awake for two hours, then why did I just wake up? Why didn’t you try and wake me, if you were so scared?” 

“I did!” I retorted in blatant irritation. “I screamed so loud that I thought I woke up the whole building. I tried waking you for like an hour, but you didn’t come to, so I didn’t know what else to do.” “So you’re telling me that you woke up with me in your bed and couldn’t wake me up for two hours?” His eyebrow suspiciously rose. “Yes! And now that you’re up, you can tell me what you’re doing here. How’d you even get in? Both my window and door were locked.” “I…….” Leonardo’s eyes drifted off into nowhere. “I don’t know……. the last thing I remember is passing out in my bed.” “You mean…….. you have no idea how you got here?” “No? And also, where’s here?” He was almost afraid to ask. 

“Um, my room?” “I mean where am I? Where is this? Are we still in New York?” “New York…….. USA?” “Yeah? Where else would it be?” “Uh, well we’re not definitely not the US. This is Edinburgh; like Edinburgh, Scotland.” “E-Edinburgh?” Leonardo blinked in utter disbelief. “I’m in Edinburgh?” My head gave a slow nod. “Uh, n-no! No, it can’t be! I can’t be across the ocean! It’s not possible!” His big, green hands started to grasp all over himself frantically. “This isn’t happening! This can’t be happening!” “Calm down! We can figure this out; don’t worry.” 

The turtle shot me a monstrous glare. “Don’t worry? Don’t worry?! You’re not the one who woke up on the other side of the world with no clue how you got here!” “I……..!” Before I could respond, a folded paper fell out of his shell onto the ground. Curious, I picked it up in his place. It read: Don’t worry. All will be well. Interesting, I read the note over a couple of times. “This is your writing?” I asked the very confused turtle sitting on my bed. “N-no, uh……..” Leonardo examined the paper closely. “I don’t know this handwriting.” “Neither do I. Maybe whoever brought you here wrote it.” “Possibly…….” 

Leonardo then sighed and rested his head against the back wall in defeat. “I have no clue what to do,” his hands ran over his face. “I don’t know how I got here or how I’ll get home…….. I’m so lost.” I watched the sad turtle for a moment before deciding to offer some comfort. But this was cut off by the loud growling of his stomach. His cheeks immediately turned a bright red. “Uh……. s-sorry.” He didn’t realize how hungry he was, and neither did I. I couldn’t help but grin for the first time that morning. “I’ll get something to eat.” “Y-you don’t have to do that!” Leonardo flinched as I turned around to my desk. “It’s no trouble; it’s a lot easier to deal with than waking up to a large, mutant turtle in your bed,” I uttered under my breath. 

To my surprise, there was an unforeseen box sitting on my desk. It opened to reveal a bunch of cute little candies with “eat me” written on them. Interesting, I don’t buying these, I examined them with a little suspicion. Figuring that they were harmless though, which was beyond stupid in reality, I popped one straight into my mouth. Tasted normal enough to me. “Want one?” I then offered one to the turtle, which took one once he saw I had already eaten one. “Thanks.” “Ok, I’m going to go get some real breakfast. Just wait here and……..” I had just enough time to grab my room’s key until my sentence was cut off with loud pounding on my door. “Alcmene! Alcmene, I know you’re in there! Open up this instant!” “The porter!” I gasped and we gave each other a horrified look. 

“Hide!” I instructed in a whisper. “Where?” Leonardo scanned quickly around the room. “Uh! Uh!” “I’m coming in, Alcmene!” “Oh, shoot!” I was about to toss a blanket over the turtle when my door suddenly burst open to reveal a very annoyed porter. “M-Mr. Lederhosen!” I made a protective dash in front of blue-masked reptile, who looked beyond petrified. “You know the rules, Miss Lauser! No overnight guests! Where is he?!” He marched right past me. “I-I can explain, sir! He’s wearing a costume for Halloween!” “What are you talking about, Alcmene?” Both Leonardo and I blinked in disbelief as he inspected the room, ignoring Leonardo’s presence like he wasn’t there. “I don’t see anyone,” his big hands planted firmly on his hips. 

“You don’t…….. you don’t see him! I mean you don’t see anyone!” It suddenly hit me like a lightning bolt. “S-sorry, I…… I just woke up; still a little dozy.” “He doesn’t see me?” Leonardo gasped. “That so?” Mr. Lederhosen’s eyebrow raised in my direction. “Or hear me; he can’t see me or hear me!” To test it, Leonardo waved his three-fingered hand in front of his face. “Stop that!” I said in a rushed whisper to the turtle. “Stop what?” The porter demanded. “Uh! N-nothing! Nothing, sir!” 

Mr. Lederhosen sent me a very intimidating expression, tapping one of his feet on the ground. “We’ve had several noise complaints this morning, Miss Lauser. Mind telling me what you were screaming about earlier?” “U-uh…….! Um, I…… I had a nightmare! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was being that loud,” I tried to look as shy, meek, and innocent as possible. “You make that kind of racket over a nightmare?” “I was very, very scared, sir. I woke……. in quite a shock you could say.” It wasn’t a total lie; I was beyond shocked when I woke up this morning. 

The scary porter eyed me for a moment like he was deciding whether or not to believe me. But eventually he sighed- an angry sigh- and brushed past me heading to the door. “No more noise, do you understand?” “Yes sir. I promise it will never happen again.” “It better not; unless you want me writing to your father about this.” “Yes, sir.” Muttering to himself, he slammed the door loudly behind him. What happened to no more noise? I guess it was ok when it was him, but who cares?! He didn’t see the gigantic turtle on my bed! Wait, he didn’t see the turtle…… so maybe…… I peered back to him with suspicion. Maybe the turtle really wasn’t there and this was all in my head. 

“What?” His eyebrow rose. “Are you real?” “What do you mean? Of course I’m real,” he sounded slightly scandalized. “He couldn’t see you.” “That’s not my fault…… is it?” “Why can I see you but he can’t?” “I don’t know! I have no clue about any of this!” He showed me his hands in a fashion of honesty. I still wasn’t convinced. “It doesn’t make any sense. I wake up to an oversized turtle in my bed; a turtle which only I can see,” my feet paced the room side-to-side thoughtfully. “How could this be real if I wasn’t hallucinating it?” “You’re not hallucinating,” his eyes gave a dramatic roll. “How do you, or I know?” “Uh, for one, I can eat your food. For another, we can touch each other.” Curious, my fingers lifted to gently bump the tips on the front of his shell. “That’s true.” I don’t think either of those would happen if I was dreaming. 

Sighing, I fell onto my desk chair and wiped my hand over my eyes exhaustedly. “Ugh, why? Just why?” “I don’t know,” Leonardo finally pulled himself off my bed, giving me a chance to see his height for the first time. He was taller than me, nearly under six feet. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to figure it out,” then he looked down at me. “Your name’s Alcmene, right?” “That’s me. And you are?” “Leonardo.” “Oh, that’s a nice name.” If not a little exotic for a turtle. “I know we just met and everything, and that I just kind of appeared out of nowhere for you, but……. would you help me?” Leonardo asked me in a desperate tone. “I’m in a strange country and have no idea how I’ll get home, so would you please…….. please…….” 

Awe, the poor guy. It suddenly dawned on me how scary this must be for him. Waking up in a foreign city with no family or connections. It must be terrifying. This made me only want to help him more. A small, comforting smile rolled across my lips. “Yes, of course I’ll help you, Leonardo.” “R-really?! You will?” He seemed surprised by this for some reason. “Yes. Yes, I’ll do what I can to get you back to New York. It was New York, right?” “Yes. That’s the only place I’ve ever lived in.” “Alright! New York it is. But first, we need food.” And Leonardo nodded in agreement as his stomach rumbled loud enough to echo through the whole room. 

I was busy typing away on my laptop at my desk. Leonardo was sitting on my bed gobbling as much food down as he could. “Don’t worry about it; I’ll buy more food if we run out,” I told him earlier. He took this literally as he rummaged through my food cupboard in the communal kitchen. “Food is sooooo good over here!” He exclaimed, shoving another pie into his mouth. “It’s because you’re hungry. Food always tastes better when you’re hungry.” “I’m serious! This is the best chicken I’ve ever had! And the chocolate! Don’t even get me started.” This made me smile as I continued working. 

I was currently looking for safe yet affordable ways to get Leonardo back to New York. All options were either out of my price range or too risky. I contemplated just getting him onto a plane; it’d be easy enough since he was invisible and they usually had spare seats. But I couldn’t help but worry if someone actually did see him; what would happen then? He’d likely get shot and that’s a situation I wanted to avoid. But the alternatives weren’t helping the situation. I didn’t know what to do…… Nothing seemed to work, no matter how I twisted and contorted it. Leonardo noticed my growing stress. 

“You ok, Alcmene?” “Yeah, I just don’t know what we’re gonna do. Nothing I find seems to work,” I pushed away from my desk and through my head back. “This is a nightmare……..” “I’m sorry, Alcmene. I didn’t mean to bring this all on you.” “It’s not your fault, Leonardo…….. it’s not your fault, right?” “No!” “I know,” I sighed gazing up at my ceiling in defeat. What am I going to do? He can’t stay here, can he? No, he doesn’t want and he should be home. I can’t imagine how nervous his uh, reptile family must be. 

But I was so mentally tired and it wasn’t even noon yet! On top of which, I had class this afternoon. But this was more important than class. Ugh! What am I going to do?! What?! “Is there anything I can do?” “I don’t know. I’ve looked at every option I could think of online.” “Hmmmmm,” Leonardo considered the situation for a minute. “Maybe we should try contacting my brothers.” “Do you have their numbers? Do…… turtles have phones?” “Well, sort of; they’re t-phones. My heh, younger brother invented them. They work like regular phones only…….” 

To the blue-masked turtle’s face contorted to one of alarm. “I don’t have mine!” He let out a loud gasp. “That’s ok, we can call them on my phone. Do you know their numbers?” His eyes scrolled shyly to the side. “No.” Oh boy. “Well, do you guys have FaceBook? Or know any humans that have phones?” “Well, April, but I don’t know her number either and she doesn’t use FaceBook.” “I wonder if there’s a way we could get a private plane?” I thought out loud. “No, I don’t have that kind, or any money.” Leonardo watched me for a second, then tried to force a smile. “Thanks, Alcmene. I do appreciate this.” “I know,” I mirrored his forced grin. “Don’t worry, Leonardo. We’ll think of something.” 

It was then that I had yet another knock on my door. I didn’t have time to say “come in” before it opened. A man- a childhood friend of mine- came inside. Without so much as a “hello”, he shut the door behind him and came up to me. He was tall, pale, and slender; his hair was a dark brown with red streaks at the ends. He did not look happy, but then; he never did. He just walked inside, stopping near me to place his hands on his hips and frown over at me. “Ok. What’s this about you screaming?” 

“Who’s this guy?” Leonardo did not look at all impressed. “How’d you know about that?” I asked as I shifted my position in the chair. “That porter of yours, Lederhosen, told me all about it. How you were shrieking out of your mind early this morning.” “Of course he did,” I rested my hand over my eyes. It never ends…….. “He doesn’t have to give you a hard time about it. You were scared, that’s all,” Leonardo frowned, folding his arms still unimpressed. “This is Gair, a friend,” I explained, not remembering that Gair couldn’t see or hear the turtle for a second. “I know my name, thank you,” Gair frowned. “Huh? Oh sorry, Gair; it’s been……. a long morning.” 

“I bet. So, mind tellin’ me what you were so upset about?” “Uh………” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell him; both for Leonardo’s sake and so I didn’t sound super crazy. But I didn’t like keeping secrets from him either. And he could tell I was. “Come on. You gotta let me know if something’s wrong,” Gair prodded a little. “This isn’t……..” I couldn’t finish my sentence; the door reopened again. Another man entered; this one with longish blonde hair that got progressively darker. “Alcmene!” He burst through the door. “Are you alright?! Did someone come into your room?” “Fionn, what are you doing here?” “Same thing as you. I’m checking up on Alcmene,” Fionn answered as he came over to kneel down in front of me. He scanned me once over for injury. “You ok? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” 

Leonardo eyed the two men over. “Another friend of yours? Wait, how’d they get into your room?” I peered at the turtle before turning my attention back to Fionn. “I’m fine. I just…… had a nightmare.” “A nightmare? You’ve never had problems with nightmares before.” “Yeah…….. but last night was different. I was dreaming about……. turtles.” “Turtles?” He cracked a grin while Gair stayed stone-face. “You love turtles.” “You do?!” Leonardo blinked at me in surprise. “Uh, these were different turtles. They had uh……..” My eyes peaked back to Leonardo for inspiration. “Weapons! Ninja weapons.” “I see,” I couldn’t help but blush a tad as Fionn’s hand rested gently on top of my head. “You have quite an imagination, Meny.” 

“Seriously, Alcmene,” Gair’s voice was firmer. “If you’re that scared, you should call one of us. Don’t try and shoulder everything alone, like you always do.” “Hey!” This caught Leonardo off guard, in a bad way. Fionn also seemed put off by this. “Easy; don’t be a jerk, man. I mean she had a nightmare and was scared; it’s perfectly normal. What do you expect from her? I know you’re worried but give her a break,” he then turned his head back to face me. “Now then, you want us to walk to the café later?” “The café?!” 

I’d completely forgotten! This week was our school’s cultural festival; or our equivalent of a cultural festival. Our club was doing a Japanese-style maid café; our club leader was really into anime and stuff. I forgot I signed up for a shift every week! And it would look really bad if I canceled since I use the club benefits more than anyone. I had to go! But……. My eyes wandered back over to Leonardo, who was busy fiddling with something in the background. I can’t just leave him here, and I really should be working on getting him home. That’s when a brilliant idea popped into my head. 

“Uh, r-right! The café, um yes! I mean yes, I’m still doing my shift today.” “You work?” Leonardo asked, listening back in on the conversation. “But wait! I thought we were gonna find a way to get me home!” “We will!” I replied, forgetting that they couldn’t see him again. They blinked at me in alarm. “A-are you sure you’re alright, Meny? You seem a little…… off,” Fionn noted. “Huh? Oh! I’m fine, really. I just had a bad sleep last night; I’m pretty tired.” “You should take today off,” Gair said with finality. “It might not be a bad idea………” Fionn agreed. “N-no! I think I should. I promised I would and I think I just need to wake up a little.” “Would you stop being so stubborn all the damn time? You should listen to your body if you’re tired.” “Um, I’m not that stubborn, am I?” “Are you kidding?” 

Leonardo’s arms refolded. “What’s his problem?” He distinctly frowned at Gair. “It’s ok, Gair. If she wants to work, then we should respect that,” Fionn grinned at him. “We’ll come by to walk you later.” “U-uh no! That’s fine!” They blinked at me in surprise for what felt like the millionth time. “I mean, you guys have class and everything; that’s why I took this shift. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” “Alcmene……..” “I promise, you guys,” I gave a sincere smile. “I’ll even text you once I’m there if it’ll make you feel better.” The two looked at each other and then at me. “Alright but promise that you won’t hesitate to call if you need us.” “I promise!” “Ok then,” Fionn got up to leave. “Come on, Gair. Let’s get to class.” Gair sent me one last look- a genuine expression of concern- before following Fionn to the door. “I’ll see you guys later.” “Bye, Meny. Take care of yourself, ok?” “Ok, thanks Fionn. I’ll call you this afternoon, Gair.” He didn’t respond, shutting the door quietly behind them. 

The blue-masked turtle turned to me in confusion. “You’re going to work?” His eyebrow rose. “At a club booth, yes.” “I thought you were gonna help me!” “And I will! This is the perfect opportunity!” “Huh? What do you mean?” “You come to school with me.” “Are you out of your mind?! I can’t leave the room!” “Why not? You’re invisible.” “Oh yeah,” he blinked in remembrance. “It’s perfect. You come to me to work and stay with me. It’s almost Halloween anyways so if anyone sees you, I’ll just say you’re wearing a costume.” “Uh huh. Where are you going with this?” His hands planted on his hips. “Think of it as a trial run. If no one else sees you, then I don’t see why you can’t get on a plane. If it works today, then I don’t see why you can’t be on a plane home tomorrow.” “I see you point,” Leonardo’s thumb moved up to rub under his chin ponderingly. “Do you think it’ll work?” “It’s worth a shot. We’re kinda out of other options.” 

Leonardo thought it over for another minute or so. Then his head gave a resounding nod. “Ok, let’s do it.” “Alright,” I got up from my chair. “So you’ll come with me today. And if everything goes smoothly, we’ll have you flying home in no time!”


	2. Blue Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonardo comes with you to the make-shift cafe.

Leonardo was nervous to leave the room at first. I had to coax him outside, which he finally agreed to. We took the stairs down to the lobby and then out the front doors. Leonardo froze for a second at the doorway, gazing out worriedly. “I’m not sure about this…….” I paused to gaze back at him. “It’ll be alright, Leonardo; I’m here.” “Yeah but I…… I’ve never done this before. I feel so……. open and exposed.” My eyes locked upon him for a second before a comforting grin crossed my face. “Come on, Blue. It will be ok, I promise.” Leonardo took him time decide to whether or not he could trust me. But eventually, he breathed a deep breath and crossed the threshold. Once he did, his eyes grew in surprise, delight, bewilderment, and whole whack of other emotions as he beheld the Scottish city for the first time. I smiled at his positive reaction. “Welcome to Edinburgh, Blue.” 

Leonardo’s jitters morphed to pure, unadulterated excitement. His eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them, constantly soaking in everything around us. “Everything’s so old!” He gasped enthusiastically. “Why are the buildings’ so short? The street is actually made of cobble stones! Oh, look at that! Look, look!” I couldn’t help but enjoy his elation. He kept pointing to and addressing random things as we passed them; there was so much that I barely had time to keep up. “This place is soooooo cool!” The turtle proclaimed loudly. “Glad you like it.” 

My heart skipped a beat however, as Leonardo suddenly scaled the building beside us, climbing to the roof. “Leonardo! What are you doing?! Get down from there!” “Whoa! I didn’t there was a castle here!” He completely ignored me. “Is that a real castle? Like real real?” “Leonardo, please come down! That’s really not safe!” I begged again, only to notice some older man looking at me in perplexity. “Uh, h-hi,” my lips forced an awkward grin. “Oh, look Alcmene! The ocean!” He pointed in the opposite direction of the castle. “Blue, I really have to get to school. Please! We can go to the castle later,” my voice was more hushed this time. “Get down!” “Don’t worry,” Leonardo hopped down in one jump, causing showing off is cool. “I do this all the time at home. Staying on the rooftops lets us get around easier,” his arms folded. The turtle only continued at the confused and slightly concerned expression on my face. “Uh, we’re not invisible back in New York. We’re very visible.” “Well, ok,” I let out a sigh. “As long as you’re used to it. Now come on, we’re gonna be late.” 

I brought Leonardo to my high school which was located near the university. “Huh,” he paused only for a second at the main gate. “What?” “I’ve never seen a high school like this before?” “Really?” I gazed back at it. Looked normal enough to me. It was a four-hundred-year-old, grey-stone building. Yes, it was old but a lot of schools were here. I took him across the yard and inside to where the cultural booths were set up. Our club- the Creative Writer’s club- had our stall in the basement, purely because that’s where all the tables and chairs were. 

“Why are you doing this again?” Leonardo asked me as we descended the stairs. “All students have to join one club. Each club hosts a fundraising booth, or café in our case, for a week during the world’s festival.” “World’s festival?” His eyebrow rose. “It’s kinda like a cultural festival. Every club makes money for the school and in exchange, we get credit? I don’t know the details, that’s our president’s job.” “And he decided that you guys would do a café?” “Uh, yeah. He has this thing with maid cafés; the ones like in anime from Japan. And since he’s kinda bossy, that’s what we’re doing all week.” “I see,” Leonardo had never heard of a maid café before and was a little curious to see what they were like. I mean it sound unpleasant to work at but really, how bad could they be? 

I got to the door which was locked. That’s odd, Scott should be here already. I unlocked and opened the door, only to find to my horror an empty café. There was a note resting on the counter, which I assumed was for me. Leonardo followed me inside, inspecting around while I read it out loud: Dear Alcmene, sorry but you’re going to run the café alone this afternoon. Gair and Fionn have class, Tam Lin and Oisin have an algebra midterm, and I’m at the dentist. I’m sure you’ll make it work. Good Luck! 

I let out a loud shriek, catching Leonardo off guard. “What’s wrong?!” “I’m the only one working the café this afternoon!” “Oh?” His big fingers took the note from my hand to give a once over. “Well, this can be a good thing!” “How? Do you know how much work a café is?” “No! Don’t you see? You’re the only one here, so why don’t you shut it down for the afternoon?” An eager smile bloomed across his lips. “We can go to the castle! I bet they really cool medieval swords there.” I let a little sigh. “Sorry, Blue; I’d love nothing more but I have to work today. We get a dimeter if we’re closed for a whole day this week, plus Scott would kill me if I left now. No, I’m gonna have to stay and run this place by myself……. Somehow.” 

In reality, I should have called Gair or Fionn for help; god knows how they’d want and expect me to. But I knew they already skipped class to check in on me this morning. Just for curiosity’s sake, I pulled out my I-phone; there were three unread text messages. Fionn’s read: Hey Meny, how r u doing? U ok? The one from Oisin read: Hi babe. Sorry I couldn’t cover my shift this afternoon; forgot about that pesky algebra midterm. But I’d appreciate a pic of u in ur maid uniform anyway ;) And finally Tam Lin’s said: Greetings Alcmene. I sincerely regret to inform you that I will be unable to complete my shift at the café today. There is an ill-timed algebra test I must attend with Oisin. I assure you that you will be fairly compensated for the inconvenience. Yours respectfully, Tam Lin. 

Ugh! They were all useless! I know that’s pretty mean to think of your friends but I was more than annoyed right now, given the situation. Leonardo meanwhile, seemed to be having a great old time. Well at least that’s one less thing I had to worry about. I knew he’d be bored if he stayed around for my whole shift, so I had half a mind to tell him to go explore the city if he’d like. This went against my original plan, but it was pretty clear by now that he was invisible to everyone but me. But that would leave me here alone…… alone, in a maid costume, on a high school campus. Hmmmmm, maybe I could think of a better idea, and I did within seconds. Leonardo didn’t look like he had much experience with café food but perhaps we could strike a deal. 

“Blue?” “Yes?” Leonardo called from behind the counter he was inspecting. “How would feel about this? I work out front, greeting and serving customers while you make the drinks and food?” He looked up at me in surprise. “I can’t cook; that’s Mikey’s job.” I assumed Mikey was another turtle but I didn’t have time to ask about that. “You don’t have to cook; just make parfaits and cut cake and stuff.” “Hmmmmm, I’m not sure,” his fingers twiddled a tad. “Please, Leonardo; I don’t know what else to do. I can’t run this place by myself, despite what Scott thinks,” I added under my breath. “And if you help me, I’ll get takeaway for dinner from anywhere you want.” “Really?” This seemed to entice him. “Yep!” “Well, ok…… but you’re gonna have to tell me what to do.” “Perfect, thank you! Just stay behind the counter; I’ll bring the orders to you.” 

In the half an hour we had before official opening, I had just enough time to teach him how to make a chocolate and strawberry parfait as well as pots of tea. Then, with minutes to spare, I ran to get changed into the maid outfit Scott bought online for me. Oh god, why did we have to have such an eccentric club president? He was more like an anime character than real person, I groaned inwardly. But no time to worry about that now; I quickly got changed and ran to open the front door. The mid-day bell rang indicating that all booths were supposed to be open for business now. Oh great, my eyes rolled as I opened the door to the make-shift café. Well, this wasn’t my decision and it’ll be hell to pay if I don’t comply; here goes nothing. 

As expected, no one came for the first twenty minutes or so, even though I did rush to get us open. Leonardo was busy making himself an ice cream sundae- a lot of ice cream sundaes- over behind the counter. It didn’t have a clear view of the dining area so no one could see that heh, “no one” was making the orders. I was sitting at a table bored when he called out to me. “So what is a maid café exactly?” He finally got around to asking. “It’s like a regular café expected you’re served by maids- both male and female.” “Guys can be maids?” “Male-servants, yes,” I sighed. “So what makes it Japanese?” “It’s a Japanese idea; we don’t have them here in Europe. I had to watch all of Maid-Sama and He is My Master in preparation.” “You what watched now?” 

Before I could answer, someone appeared at the doorway. It was two guys, likely twelfth graders. Oh, it’s show time! I immediately jumped to my feet racing over to stand in front of them. I bowed as respectively as possible, making myself consistently grin. “Welcome home, Master.” Oh god! That sounded so unnatural! This was not a thing here in Scotland and I didn’t know how they’d react. They both instantly turned a bright shade of red- a happy red- while I heard a sudden crash followed by a bang from the kitchen. A frantic Leonardo ran out with the most dumbfounded look on his face. “What did you just say?! Who’s masters?!” That’s when he saw me in my maid getup for the first time; his own cheeks sizzled so hard I think I could actually hear them. “T-that’s a maid outfit?” His big green finger pointed up to me as his jaw hung open. 

“Dude, she’s so hot!” We overheard the two guys say to each other. “We should totally have maid cafés in Edinburgh!” “I didn’t know maids could look like that!” “Please, this way, sirs,” still wearing a forced smile, I led them both over to a table. “Thanks,” they sighed as I pulled out their chairs and placed napkins over their laps. This is so humiliating, I couldn’t show how much I was grinding my teeth. I’m a high schooler; this shouldn’t even be legal! How did Scott ever get the club’s legislative to agree to this?! I bet he brided them, again! Nugh! He’s not the one who has to wear an exposing outfit and be objectified by other students. And on top of which, Leonardo’s here too! Why? Just why?! 

“Here are some menus. Please take your time, masters,” I gave another bow before getting the heck away from them. An unamused Leonardo was standing behind the counter with his arms folded. But I didn’t have time to go see him; another set of costumers had arrived by then- a guy and girl this time. “Welcome home, master and milady.” “That sounds so weird!” Blue hollered over, making my eyes inwardly roll. I know! But I’m just doing my job! I must have done it well to since we were pretty swamped by the end of the hour. 

I came back to the first guys after ten minutes or so to finally collect their order; the whole place was full by then. “What may I serve you, masters?” “I’ll get a parfait.” “Chocolate or strawberry, sir?” “Which do you like?” Ugh! No! “I like chocolate myself,” I said with a cute little giggle. “Then I’ll have chocolate!” “And I’ll have a slice of cake with a pot of Earl Grey. Can you manage that, sugar?” This guy was more brazen. Ok, so maybe it was a good thing none of the other guys were here; they’d really have a problem with this. Still, I had to act like a robot who thought nothing was wrong. “Certainly. I’ll put in your orders promptly, masters.” “Hurry back!” The arrogant one called out to me as I left. I went over to see Leonardo for the first time since opening. He did not look pleased at all, though he couldn’t help but blush at my outfit. 

“Here’s the order for the first table,” I placed a sticky note on the counter; I preferred to write on them. Leonardo just frowned. “This is stupid.” “I know! It wasn’t my decision,” my hand ran over my eyes; this was going to be a long afternoon. “Just please fill the order.” He kept frowning but went on to get the food and tea ready. “You having fun?” I think he wanted to show his concern for the situation in a non-creepy way. “I wouldn’t say that,” I chuckled. “But it’s not too horrible. At least the time’s flying by.” “I never realized…….” “What?” He didn’t answer right away, taking his time as if to be collecting his thoughts. “I didn’t realize there was so much I didn’t know.” “Haha, you think ignorance about maid cafés is a bad thing?” “Not just this; all of this- this whole city. There’s so much here.” I didn’t say anything to this; what could I say? He was right……. and there was nothing I could do about his situation back in New York. 

The café stayed open until five o’clock, when the school bell chimed indicating that it was time to close up. I finally got out of that god-forsaken costume and went to join the now worn-out turtle. It had been a successful- which means busy- first day. Both of us starving, Leonardo let pick where to get food, as he was too tired to go over his options. I got us fish an’ chips from a local joint. We went to eat back in my dorm room. Leonardo tucked in immediately, consuming one whole piece of fish before I had even started on mine. “What’s this?” His fork poked at the mushy peas on the side. “Mushy peas; it’s like smashed peas.” “Peas?” His eyebrow rose. “What would anyone smash peas?” This made me laugh. “They’re really good. Try ‘em.” “Hmmmmm,” he scanned the food suspiciously before taking a bite. His eyes lit up, though not as much as I thought they would. “Not bad! Not bad at all!” And he proceeded to empty the container in his mouth. 

After dinner, I brought our takeout bags to the garbage outside and cleaned up a bit. Leonardo plunked himself onto my bed and spread out his long, buff arms. I texted Fionn and Scott to tell them about how the first day went and how I was doing. Then I threw my phone off to the side and sat on my office chair opposite Blue. He just looked at me and smiled- a genuine smile. “Well, that was a fun day.” “Really?” “No,” I giggled lightly. “But……. I’m really happy you were there.” “Y-yeah?” This made him blush for some reason. “Yes, I don’t what I would have done if you weren’t there.” “Well, t-thanks,” his big, green hand rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “For waking up in a strange city with no idea how I got here, it wasn’t a bad time.” “Yes?” “Yes,” wearing a grin, his head gave a soft yet sincere nod. 

I smiled too; a nice, calm, happy smile. “I know how you feel. I’d never met a mutant turtle before but…… it was a good time. I never thought I’d be in this situation, ever. But I’m happy.” “You are?” “Yeah, I got to meet you.” “Huh, that’s right,” his eyes glossed over in realization. “I got to meet you too.” Neither of us said anything for a little while after this. The mood got……. somewhat gloomy all of a sudden. And I think we both knew why. Time was passing; we still had tonight but it would be over soon. This was hitting us, definitely me as I stared down at my hands thoughtfully. 

“I’ll find you a flight tomorrow; even if we have to leave Edinburgh, we’ll find you one,” I heard myself say out loud. Leonardo nodded; a sad, sober nod. His eyes were locked on the floor with his hands folded out in front of him now. Another pregnant pause broke over us. “It’ll be good to go home,” the turtle finally said, still not looking up at me. “I bet. You must miss your family, and they must be worried sick about you.” “Yeah…….” Another long quiet. “Do you……. think you’ll ever come to New York?” 

This caused my head to tilt up to face his, and we stared at one another for a minute or so. “I don’t have the money for that kind of flight and I don’t think my father would let me go; definitely not alone.” Leonardo’s gazed rolled downwards in obvious disappointment. “I get it,” at least he knew it wasn’t my fault. His reaction left a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach and I was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to make things better. “But…… we could still keep in contact?” I gave a little shrug. “Yeah?!” This immediately perked him right up, only to make him blush slightly. “I-I mean, that would be cool,” he said, his eyes moving shyly to the side. With a gentle smile, I opened my desk drawer and pulled out a pink sticky note and pen. Leonardo watched as I scribbled down my name and number. I didn’t have FaceBook and I doubt he did, so texting seemed like the best modes of communication. 

Finishing up, I turned to hand it over with a smile. “Here you go.” But to my shock and instant terror, Leonardo was nowhere to been seen. “L-Leonardo?!” I gasped, getting up from my chair. He was gone; just like that. He literally disappeared without a trace. He couldn’t have made a run for it; I would have seen him go either to the window or door- I room was that small. Still, it was eerie. Blue left my lift just as unexplainably as he came into it. I waited for a few minutes, listening and watching for something to happen. When nothing did, my head down fell a little. “Leonardo……..” With that, I crumpled up the sticky note in my hand and tossed it into the garbage can.


	3. Red Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new, unfamiliar presence in your bed wakes you up the next morning.

Raphael woke up with his arm wrapped around something. He was holding something warm up against the side of his shell. Absent-mindedly enjoying the comfort of waking up with such warmth all around him, the red-masked turtle sighed contently to himself. It didn’t occur to him that the bed he was currently in was much softer and pinker than his. He didn’t even notice the extra pillow behind his head; he was too comfy to care. Ah, this is nice, his mind echoed quietly. Too nice to get out of bed. 

The turtle did undeniably notice when something moved under the overs; a limb, though not one of his. “That better not be you, Mikey,” he growled lowly, not wake enough to open his eyes just yet. Another move of the limb enabled him to characterize its size. It was smaller than his brothers’ arms. What the……?! He winced, growling louder. What the heck is that? His senses perked up at a soft moaning sound. It was too light to be one of the other’s snores; he knew what they sounded like. This was almost childish in how sweet and little it was. Raphael forced his eyes opened and what he saw shook him in a profound way. 

To Raphael’s speechless disbelief, he found a strange girl- me- lying beside him in bed. I was fast asleep and curling up into him without realizing it. The turtle was so startled that he didn’t realize that he wasn’t in his bed or room; the totality of his attention was on me. After a moment of sheer bafflement, Raphael’s mind and body finally reacted. I found myself being subsequently tossed to the floor, waking me up in the process. I landed on the carpet before I knew what had happened. At first, I thought I had fallen out of bed but realized that was wrong when I blinked up to the fuming turtle glaring down at me. 

“W-what?!” I gasped in total confusion. “Ow! What’s going on?!” “Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?!” The turtle angrily demanded, sticking his fat finger my way. “Your bed?!” Wait, didn’t we go through this yesterday? Leonardo woke up in my bed for a second morning? “Y-you don’t recognize my room, Leonardo?” I was still sleepy so I couldn’t tell the difference in body structure or size right away. The turtle just gave me a puzzled expression before scanning over my bed and room. “This isn’t MY room!” “No, it’s mine. I thought you would have remembered from yesterday,” I slowly lifted myself up off the floor. “Yesterday?” His head shot back to me unimpressed, for some reason. “I’ve never been here before! And I’ve never met you before!” “What are you talking about? We spent all day together yesterday.” “W-wait……..” His eyes suddenly shimmered as if something just clicked inside his mind. 

“Y-you’re Alcmene?” “Yes? Why are you acting so weird, Leonardo? Did something happen in between last night and now?” “I’m not Leo; I’m his brother, Raphael.” “H-his brother?!” I was not expecting that. “W-where Leonardo?” “Probably back in New York,” Raphael shrugged. “New York? So he made it home then! H-how?” “How should we know?” “W-what happened? Did you see him last night?” I sat down on my desk chair. “Yeah. We woke up and he was gone; just disappeared without telling us or leaving a note or anything. We searched the city but couldn’t find a trace of him. And then, last night he just kind of appeared in the lair. He said he woke up in a stranger’s bed in Edinburgh and that he spent the day with her. He told us that he was invisible which here and was gonna fly home tomorrow- uh today. We didn’t believe him at first but……. he was able to describe a lot of things with Donnie checked,” Raphael’s gaze drifted off into space for a second. “He wasn’t lying, was he?” “No,” I shook my head. “It’s true; he woke up here yesterday, was invisible to everyone but me, and we spent the day together.” 

“Huh,” the red-masked turtle considered this. “So then, I’m in Edinburgh right now?” My head nodded slowly. “And I got here the same way Leo did?” “I guess so? He just appeared and then disappeared out of nowhere.” “Really?” Raphael’s green hand run over his bald head in a thoughtful manner. “Why?” “I don’t know. I don’t even know how you got here, or how Leonardo got home.” “Huh,” he then sat back almost sulking, folding his arms. “So that’s mean I’m stuck here with you all day then.” 

Excuse me? This perceived insult caused me to blink back at me. “You’re not stuck with anyone. You’re stuck in Edinburgh maybe; at least for the day if Blue’s situation is any case. But you don’t have to stay here or with me.” “Oh really?” Raphael opened one eye my way. “And what if I’m not like Leo’s case? Then what?” I let out a sigh. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. You’re probably invisible like your brother, so we’ll just get you on a flight. No big deal.” “Yeah, says the one who didn’t wake up in a strange country, in a strange bed, with a stranger clinging to you.” “I wasn’t “clinging” to you; if anything, I thought you were Leonardo in my sleep,” I turned back to my desk. To my surprise, there was another box with those little “eat me” candies resting on it. Huh, I definitely didn’t put those there. I wonder where they came from and what they are……… 

“You and Leo got along, huh?” “What?” Raphael’s voice broke my train of thought, making me peer back at him over my shoulder. “He was happy and relieved to be home, but he ironically seemed a little sad too.” “Really?” This made my heart flutter a little for some odd reason. “He said he was to your school and worked at a uh, café?” “Oh yeah, that was……. that was a thing.” “Yeah, he obviously didn’t realize how weird it is to wake up in a stranger’s bed; especially a girl’s bed.” “He knew it was weird! But we got along with each other; he knew it wasn’t my fault he was here.” “How do I know it’s not?” Raphael frowned accusingly. “Wha-……. Why would I bring you here? And better yet, how? I’m a high school student; not a rocket scientist.” “I don’t care, I still don’t trust you.” “What?! You’re the one who woke up in MY bed!” God, this Raphael was nothing like his brother; much more controversial……. and annoying. 

“Speaking of which, did you put these on my desk?” I held up the box of candies. Raphael eyed them without interest. “What are those?” “I’ll take that as a no then.” “I’ll ask again: what are they?” Gees, this guy! “They’re “eat me” candies. They were here yesterday too when Leonardo woke up,” he watched as I popped one into my mouth. Still tasty and harmless. “Want one?” I held the box out to him. “I wouldn’t eat anything here! I still don’t trust you, in case you’ve forgotten.” You could have just said no, I frowned setting the box back on my desk. 

Raphael leaned back against my pillows and watched me intently. “So now what?” “You can do whatever you want. I have another shift at the café later and no, you don’t have to come.” Thank god Oisin and Tam Lin will be there this afternoon; there was no way I was asking this brute for help. “What? You just expect me to roam around the city until tonight?” “I never said that. I’m just saying you don’t have to stay with me.” Please don’t stay with me! “Well I…….!”  
Raphael’s irritating voice was cut off when my door unexpectedly opened; don’t people know how to knock here? “Hey, Alcmene. Yeah, hi,” it was my stoner neighbor to the left. “Good morning, Tyler.” “Yeah, I heard you arguing with someone; much mellower than shouting but still, bad vibes,” he uh, said coming inside. “Oh boy,” Raphael’s eyes rolled. “Talk about lack of brain cells.” “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was being loud again,” I explained. “Whoa!” His eyes grew wide at the sight of Raphael and I felt my heart drop out of me and onto the floor. Oh no…… oh no! He can see him! Raphael’s not invisible like Leonardo! 

“Righteous Halloween costume, man. Very believable, yeah.” “U-uh! Um, Tyler, this is my friend, uh…….. Roland!” “Trying on costumes first thing in the morning; way cool. But are you dressed like a robber too? The turtle thing kills it enough, bro.” “Robber?!” Raphael stiffened up in anger. “I’m a ninja, you moron!” “Ninja? Dude, you’re overcomplicatin’ things, bro; one is enough, man.” Oh Tyler, my eyes winced in distress. Don’t make things worse! 

“Anyways, I hope bad energy between us, A-to-the-Mene,” my very high neighbor then turned his attention back to me, which was a good thing cause Raphael looked ready to pop. “I would’a come by to check on you yesterday, what with all the screamin’ and yellin’. But I was blacked out, ya feel me?” “Uh……..” “Yeah, I knew you were a kindred soul. You two have fun with your costumes, yeah,” he left with just as little warning as when he arrived. “Who was that loser?” Raphael’s thumb stuck out in the direction he had just exited. “Shhhhh! He can hear you!” “Hey yeah! How come he can see and hear me?! Leonardo said he was invisible here.” “He was! Uh……. ok, think Alcmene; what did Leonardo do differently? Think,” I collapsed back down onto my chair warily. This was all too much for me. That’s when the little box of candy caught my eye. 

My fingers suddenly snapped in apprehension. “The candies!” “Huh?” “That’s what’s different! Blue ate one yesterday morning before anyone had a chance to see him. These must make you invisible!” “Yeah, but there’s just one problem with your theory. You ate a candy and it didn’t turn you invisible.” “Hmmmmmm, maybe it doesn’t work with because I’m……..” “A human?” “Y-yeah, that.” “So, you think these “eat me” candies will make it so no one can see or hear me?” His eyebrow raised in suspicion. “I can’t think what else it could be. They’re not mine; they showed up with you guys. All I know is that Leonardo ate one and no one saw him, but you didn’t and Tyler saw you.” 

Raphael thought about this for a shorter amount of time than I was expecting. Quickly, he huffed in defeat and motioned for me to hand him the box. “Gimme one.” A please would be nice. But I still picked one out and placed it in his hand. Without a “thank you”, he inspected it thoroughly before popping it into his mouth. “Anything different?” The turtle then asked me. “No,” my head shook. “Hmmmmm, well I guess we won’t know if it works until we go out later.” “We?” I repeated with mild irritation in my tone. “Got a problem with that?” His arms crossed defiantly. “You’re the one who said…….!” “I know what I said,” he interrupted with a scratch to the back of the head. “I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.” 

I sighed- a deep, exasperated sigh. Yep, he was nothing like Leonardo; more like an unwilling participant in……. whatever this was. Raphael did watch me though as I got up to grab some clothes and get changed. “Well, while you figure that out, I’m gonna get dressed and make myself some breakfast.” I didn’t wanna to, but my polite side forced me to begrudgingly ask. “Do you want something to eat? Or do you still not trust me?” I couldn’t help but add a hint of sarcasm; it was too easy. And by the look on Raphael’s face, he didn’t appreciate it. “I could eat,” he said after sending me a glare. His eyes trailed off into nowhere in front of him as he twiddled with a loose thread on my bedsheet. I took that as code for “yes, make me breakfast”. Sighing heavily, I processed to get changed and went to the kitchen to get us what food Leonardo didn’t inhale yesterday.


	4. Red Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael spends the day with you.

I couldn’t help but stare as Raphael stomped along beside me up the busy street. He wasn’t as nervous as Leonardo to leave the dorm building, but he didn’t seem to be as overjoyed to see the city either. He kept glancing around with big eyes but didn’t say much. Unlike yesterday, I took Red out to the Royal Mile which was crowded as per usual. And just like last morning, no one saw Raphael- who in my opinion was very hard to miss. Ok good, I was able to conclude. So it was the candies after all; maybe whoever brought them here also benevolently created them so they could go outside. Who knows? 

The red-masked turtle wasn’t looking my way when I peered over at him. This guy- was he going to follow me all day like this? Not if I had anything to say about it; that’s why I took him to the Royal Mile in the right place. It was then that Raphael finally noticed my attention on him. “What?” He didn’t hesitate to send me a look. Oh boy. “Nothing.” “Yeah right. Why are you staring at me? You should be used to giant mutant turtles by now.” You’d think so…… “I’m serious; it’s nothing.” His eyes narrowed onto me, seemingly unconvinced. 

I didn’t say anything more until we were in view of the city center. This was the first time Raphael let out a little gasp in awe but didn’t react beyond that. “This is Edinburgh’s city center,” I explained. “It’s old…….” His voice didn’t sound like he was demeaning the place, rather stating the obvious. It was just as clear as it was with Leonardo that he hadn’t seen anything this historic before. “Look over there,” I pointed to the left of us. “That’s the castle; it’s really old and they have a bunch of weapons. You can spend the afternoon there.” “Wait,” Red caught on quicker than I thought he would. “You mean alone?” “Isn’t that what you want? I don’t want you to have to be “stuck” with me all day.” That’s actually not true; it was me who didn’t want to be glued to him, like a teenage turtle babysitter. He just shot me an unimpressed frown while folding his arms in front of his shell. 

“Besides, I can’t come with you; I have another shift at the club’s café this afternoon,” I continued when he didn’t verbally respond. “You’ll have more fun at the castle than with me; and if you don’t want to go there, you can go to the beach, Holyrood park……..” “Are you trying to lose me?” “No.” Yes. “What happens if I got lost, huh? Ever think about that in your master plan?” Oh my god. “You’re grown up enough to talk care of yourself.” “I don’t need you to babysit me.” “Good! Then we’ll meet up later if you want. You don’t have to come with me; I brought you here to show that you have options.” 

Raphael didn’t say anything after this, eyeing me instead like he was considering these viable alternatives. Running out of literal time, I was tempted to tell him just to leave me alone so I could go to school but refrained. I somehow refrained myself from losing my cool; somehow. I was about to say something kinder before the cathedral bells suddenly rang. Oh shoot! It’s already one?! “Sorry, Raphael; I gotta go. I’m gonna be late!” The turtle perked up as I spun around to run the other way. “Have fun, ok?” “Hmph, I don’t need you to worry about me,” he spat, crossing his arms again in a defiant fashion. Good! Then I won’t. “See ya!” I then took off down the road towards my campus. I never thought I’d actually look forward to waitressing at a student café but anything was better than babysitting Mr. Grumpy at this point. 

Everyone was already there by the time I arrived; thank goodness. Scott was in the parlor while the other two guys were getting changed. He glanced up from the clipboard in his arm as the door opened and I walked in. “You’re late.” “Oh! You wanna talk about me being late? None of you showed up yesterday! May I remind you that this was your idea, Mr. President?” “I know, I know; and I’m sorry. I had a dental appointment I couldn’t re-schedule. But you, my dear, did a marvelous job running this place on your own yesterday,” Scott flashed me a brilliant smile. “Uh yeah, on my own……..” My hand rubbed the back of my head a little awkwardly. Well, yeah; as far as they or anyone knew, I was alone. “Thank you for your efforts, Alcmene. Now! Go get changed and we’ll get started.” You were waiting for me to open? Oh, who cares? I quickly grabbed my costume and went to the back room. 

When I emerged, Scott was nowhere to be seen but Oisin was manning the café’s front door. He turned to me with his normal flashy grin. “Well, now; aren’t you a vision?” “Thanks,” this earned a soft smile. Oisin was tall, slender, and wore his hear usually long; almost down to his neck. It was also dyed a light purple which was more attractive than it sounds. Actually, he’s the hottest of all my friends. This was a blessing and a curse as he’d tell you. “Looks like you did a pretty good job yesterday; I’m impressed, Al.” “Thank you. How did your midterm go?” “Good; I copied off of Tam Lin so I know I got an A.” “I can’t believe he still lets you do that, and what’s more, you guys haven’t been caught.” “Tam Lin would never let that happen.” “Is he here yet?” “He’s upstairs getting more paper.” “Oh, well I………” “Would you two open up already?!” Scott hollered over. “Let’s get started, shall we?” Oisin grinned back at me. “Sure thing.” “You handle the male costumers; I’ll handle the female.” Oh great! Yeah, that’s wonderful; I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes in agony. I go from babysitting a human-sized turtle to serving a bunch of drooling high schoolers. Oh well; at least Raphael wasn’t here to distract me. 

Word must have got around because we had twice as many patrons today as yesterday. Both Oisin and I were on our toes; though while my costumers were needy, the girls were weirdly flirty with Oisin- almost clingy to him. Unlike me, he didn’t hesitate to flirt back, constantly complimenting and admiring them. I guess I get why they like him, or his attention; he was insanely hot, if not shallow. Maybe this is why I got angry, jealous glares every time Oisin spoke to me. 

About fifteen minutes after opening, I already had a whole whack of orders; needless to say, our club president was very happy. I went to get my first order of strawberry shortcake and tea; Oisin followed me to the counter. “Don’t worry, Al. I’ll make the tea while you get the cake.” “Really?!” That was nice of him to offer! “That’s awesome, thank you.” “Anything for you.” Oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Not because I was insulted or anything, rather due to the multiple vicious glares shot in my general direction. Ugh, and I thought being here alone was bad. Still, I did my best to pretend I didn’t see them, going to get the cake plates well borrowed from the cafeteria. Someone, probably Scott, decided that it was a fantastic idea to move them to the top shelf this morning. Yes, fantastic; seeing as I could barely reach them now. I don’t think Oisin knew where they were when he suggested that I get the cake. 

Standing on my tippy toes, I managed to get one plate down. I was about to reach for another until Oisin’s voice stopped me. “What are you doing?” “Trying to get a plate.” He chuckled softly. “Why didn’t ask me, babe? I’m a foot taller than you.” “Alright. Would you please get me a plate?” “Of course,” I blushed as he came over to the shelf. I wasn’t blushing because he was near me; we’d been friends for a while now. My cheeks couldn’t help but sizzle as he reached passed me, pressing his body into mine in the process. “O-Oisin!” I didn’t mean to say that out loud, suddenly feeling like a total idiot. “What’s wrong?” His deep eyes gazed down at me. “You’re blushing, Al.” “I…….” 

“Why are you dressed like a maid?” “Red!” Oh no! To my alarm, Raphael was standing on the opposite side of the counter. His arms were folded as per usual and he was frowning at me. W-what is he doing here? Interpreting my expression, his lips finally curled into a smirk as he planted his broad hands onto his hips. “You didn’t really think I’d let you lose me, did you?” Yes, actually! I clearly thought I did! “Red?” A surprised Oisin repeated; he blinked at me in slight concern. “U-uh!” My head immediately turned to face him. “Um, red! I wanted the red plate.” “They’re all white,” he gently corrected, checking back up at them. I felt my chest constrict as Raphael gave a little chuckle. “Uh, s-sorry! I must have been seeing things.” “Are you…… alright, Al?” “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I…….” “If you’re so fine, why are you s-stuttering?” Red mocked. I fired him a nasty glare. This guy! 

In my abrupt motion and lack of awareness to the plate still in my hand, my eyes grew as I suddenly felt it slip out from my grasp. This was followed by a crashing sound on the floor. Oisin’s eyes grew wide while I gasped. “Good move.” I have to ignore him! Without hesitation, I got down onto my knees and started picking up the shattered pieces of glass. “I-I’m so sorry! I’ll clean this up n-……..” My sentence was cut off by my wincing. In my urgency, I only made the situation worse by accidently cutting my finger. “You’re so clumsy, you slice your finger open cleaning up a broken plate?” But now I wasn’t paying attention to Raphael. I just watched as a worried Oisin took hold of my hand in his gloved one. He gently guided me to my feet and began to pull me to the back room. “Come with me, this way.” Of course Raphael followed. 

I’d never seen anyone so unimpressed as Raphael who watched Oisin proceed to sit me down, pull out the first-aid kit, and wrap a bandage around my finger. “You need someone else to put a Band-Aid on your little cut? How much of a whimp are you? You’re not even bleeding that much.” Still ignoring him, I winced a little more when he tightened the strip on my wound. “Does it hurt? Sorry.” “Does it hurt? Sorry,” Red mimicked. “A don’t know who’s the bigger baby; you or him?” His fat green thumb stuck out in Oisin’s direction. “But keeping it tight like that will help control the bleeding. We can loosen it after a little while,” Oisin told me. “What a pansy.” Just ignore him, Alcmene; I kept telling myself. Instead, I turned my full attention to Oisin. 

“Ok; thank you, Oisin,” I flashed him a radiant smile. To my surprise, his own grin began to fade. “Alcmene……” Before he could continue, the door opened and in stepped Tam Lin. He was the tallest and leanest member in the club and the only one of us to wear glasses. His hair was a short dirty blonde and his face was distinct in that he never smiled. Though he was still very handsome, if so in a cooler way. “Hi Tam Lin,” we both greeted him. “He looks like Donnie,” Raphael said in a low voice; not as a perceived insult I think, more of an observation. 

As Tam Lin came further in the room, Oisin got up from one of the two fold-out chairs inside. “We have a lot of customers, so I should get back to work.” “Thanks again, Oisin.” “Are you gonna be ok?” “Oh my god, you cut your finger; you didn’t hack off an arm,” Raphael’s eyes rolled. “Yes. I’ll be out soon.” “See you out there,” he sent me a wink before exiting. Immediately realizing what was going on, Tam Lin picked the first aid box off the table and set it back on the shelf. Then he turned around to face me straight on; his hands resting on his hips. 

“I see you’ve demonstrated the Pally Effect on the flatware.” “It’s nice to see you too, Tam Lin,” I sighed; a happy sigh. “Theoretical physicist, Wolfgang Pally, often broke equipment in his laboratories while in certain company. It was said that he would sometimes break things by simply touching them or merely by being in the vicinity. His colleagues teased him mercilessly for this destructive habit; likening it to a mysterious and rare supernatural power. And was thus dubbed the Pally Effect. Do you understand what I am alluding to?” “No.” “In other words, you’ve been rather clumsy lately.” “Wow! He’s what Donnie would be like if he were human! What a nerd!” 

“Furthermore,” Tam Lin continued. “Working with an injured finger may lead to inflammation and possible infection of the soft tissues in your hand. You should consider leaving work early today.” “What?! Have these pansies never seen a finger cut before? I get beat up all the time and you don’t see that stoppin’ me,” Raphael’s thumb stuck out proudly into his chest. Not all of us are three hundred-pound turtles, my eyes rolled inwardly. Still, it did seem a little overboard to leave now just because a little hurt finger. I contemplated what to do next, or at least I was until Red got an idea. “Actually, let’s stay; I’m hungry. Make me one of those little sundae things.” No please- just “make me food”. He was worse than my customers! 

Tam Lin waited for a minute before lowering his head a little. “Will you please tell me if you are going to stay or not?” “Sorry, Tam Lin. Would it be ok if I stuck around for a little while? I can put on gloves if that’ll help.” He pondered this for a second; just long enough for me to realize the situation I was currently in. Wait a minute, there are two guys making this decision for me. Raphael wants me to stay cause he wants food, and Tam Lin wants me to go due to my injured finger. What about what I want? Were either of them going to ask me? “I see, so you wish to fulfil your duty to the club while keeping my precaution in mind?” Well……. I guess that’s better than nothing. His head then gave a firm yet little nod. 

“Very well; if you wear proper protection, then in theory it should be fine for you to stay. But you should have the support of the complete staff, of course.” “What’s with these guys?! They’re treating you a baby; you’re a human, not a glass doll,” Red’s eyes rolled for what felt like the millionth time that day. “I’ll speak to Scott about the situation; you will not be preparing any food for the rest of the day.” “Thanks for making the call,” I sighed. Ok, maybe Raphael had a point; they were kind of protective of me, even if it wasn’t shown in the most…… sensitive ways. 

The three of us exited the back room together. Scott was busy behind the counter while Oisin was greeting some new customers- all female and likely there for him. “And a kind welcome back to all my ladies,” we overheard him greet them. “What a dork,” Raphael chuckled under his breath. “Listen, go sit over there,” I whispered over to him; Tam Lin was already talking to Scott about my uh, situation. “No, I want food,” the red-masked turtle frowned at me. “I will bring you some! Just go sit down! I don’t have time to deal with you right now.” “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not dealing with anyone; if anything, it’s me who’s suffering. I got watch these losers’ baby you like a bunch of girly boys.” “Please, just sit down! I’ll bring you a parfait if you just stay out of my way.” “It better be chocolate.” “It’ll be chocolate! Go sit down!” 

Raphael consumed three parfaits, two pieces of cake, and a fruit tart all in one sitting. Meanwhile, I was running around doing extra serving because I was forbidden from preparing any food; Tam Lin was left to the job. This means that while Red was having a grand old time, I was working my ass off. I felt like throwing a teapot at his head by the middle of my shift. He watched me in a sort of detached amusement, making the odd comment here and there. Unfortunately, Oisin was even busier than me, so he could not help. I just kept dashing from table to table, greeting guests and taking their orders. 

I was in such a rush that I accidently tripped on one of my undone shoelaces which I neglected to notice. Bracing myself for the fall, I didn’t see Oisin’s arm wrap around behind me. Like a scene in a movie, he caught me before I fell, moving me in such a way that I was facing him. My cheeks flared up again as he grinned down at me. “That was a little close, wasn’t it?” “I-I’m sorry!” “Just be careful,” he said in a softer tone. “Ok,” moving out of his grasp, I turned to head towards the counter; Raphael had ordered yet another parfait. He had this weird expression on when I brought it to him. “Almost knocked your lights out there, huh?” “Huh? Oh yeah. Luckily Oisin was there to catch me.” “These guys seem to do that a lot.” I didn’t ask what he meant by this; I knew what he meant, and I wasn’t going to dignify it with a response. 

After work, we all went our separate ways with Raphael coming with me. We hadn’t spoken much since I brought him his fourth parfait and wasn’t really in the mood for an argument. But, seeing as I was low on cash, I knew that we couldn’t go out to eat. Oh no, please tell me I don’t have to talk him food shopping with me. “Uh, Red?” “Hmmmmm?” He didn’t even look at me. “I have to go buy food.” “Don’t you have anything at home?” “Not since your brother and you arrived. I have to go grocery shopping if I wanna eat tonight.” “We,” he corrected. “I’m still hungry.” “After all that food?!” I gasped startled. “That was cake and ice cream and stuff, not real food. You’re just gonna have to make me something when we get home.” This jerk! I may be a maid this week but I am not his servant! Of course I didn’t say this out loud, too tired to start a fight. I merely sighed. 

“Why don’t you go back to my room while I go shopping? Then I’ll make us something.” “What?” “I don’t know; something easy.” Raphael thought for a moment. “No, I wanna come with you.” “I can tell you the way back to my place, Raphael.” “I’ve never been an actual grocery store before, and while this isn’t America, I’m sure you guys must have some…… decent grub.” Oh boy. “Red…….” “I’m coming; end of story.” Controlling much? Still, I was too exhausted to argue about it. I simply nodded my head. “Alright, let’s go food shopping.” 

“I want that.” “It’s too expensive.” “Then I wanna eat that for dinner.” “I don’t have a BBQ,” I huffed to myself. We walked down the aisles with Raphael pointing to every other thing, like a friken’ child. “Look, Red. It’s need to be something I can actually make,” I tried to keep my voice down; the store was usually crowded around this time and I didn’t want to look too crazy talking to “myself”. “How ‘bout burgers?” “I don’t know how to make burgers. Just pick something I can either microwave or boil.” Wait, why was I letting him pick? I was the one paying for it; we should eat something I like too. Raphael turned a corner before me, giving me a few precious seconds without his constant nagging. 

But when I turned the corner, I found him staring- just staring- down a long food aisle. He didn’t say anything, though his eyes were big. I blinked from down it to him curiously, waiting for him to speak first. I don’t know why but it felt like Raphael was experiencing a profound moment- in a grocery store of all places. Eventually his mouth opened slightly. “I didn’t know there was so much food, so much variety……….” He wasn’t talking to me per say, rather just thinking out loud to himself. That’s right, I quickly remembered. He’s never been grocery shopping before; I guess that makes sense since he is a mutant turtle and all. Of course he wouldn’t be aware of all the different kinds of food in the world; he’d never seen it before. This was when he gave a surprising chuckle; a small, sensitive chuckle. 

“Me and my brothers……. we ate algae and worms for fifteen years in the lair. It was gross but…… I didn’t know it could be any different. And now…… for the first time, I feel like I have choice- real choice.” Raphael. This made me stare up at his emerald eyes behind the mask. Yes, I know it looked like I was looking up at nothing to everyone else but right then, I didn’t care. It was the first time he had said anything…… just anything substantial. And to be honest, it ached me a little inside. It never occurred to me that they didn’t have the same lifestyle as me, the same choices……. Though it was perfectly logical that they didn’t. After all, I was human and they were……. That meant that their freedom, their options were limited; much more limited than I had realized. Without realizing what I was doing, my hand lifted to rest on the side of Raphael’s arm. He gazed down at me and I grinned; a soft, kind grin. 

“Pick out anything you want. I’ll make whatever you want for dinner.” Raphael didn’t reply; he didn’t have time. The next time I opened my eyes, he was gone and my hand was resting against nothing. H-he vanished?! Just like Leonardo last night, my hand slowly retracted itself. I wonder if they can only stay here for so long. For curiosity sake, I pulled out my phone to check the time. Seven o’clock, the same time Blue disappeared too. I wonder……… Slowly my hand then rose to my chest as I stood there motionless for a minute. I wonder if……..


End file.
